Footer bar for full fashioned hosiery machines



. P 1941- R. A. FOLKMAN 2,255,768

FOOTER BAR FOR FULL FASHIONED 'HOSIERY MACHINES Filed Oct. 5, 1940 zaimaz r a ROBERT H. FoLKMnN Ennentor (Ittomeg S Patented Sept. 16, 1941 FOOTER BAR. FOR FULL FASHIONED HOSIERY MACHINES Robert A. Folkman, Concord, N.C., assignor t0- Hugh Grey Hosiery Company, Concord, N. 0., a corporation of North Carolina Application October 5, 1940, Serial No. 359,823

2 Claims. (01. 66-449) This invention relates to a footer bar for full fashioned hosiery machines and more especially to means for applying tension to the leg portion of a stocking while the foot portion is being knitted thereto.

It is usual practice to knit the leg portion of a full-fashioned stocking on a machine called a legger, and then to transfer the leg portion to a machine called a footer for knitting the foot portion. When this transfer is effected, it is necessary to provide a tension and take-up mechanism to maintain the proper tension on the loops and also to withdraw the stocking from the knitting needles as the foot portion is knitted. As a general rule, the material from which full fashioned hose are made is very shear, thus making it easily damaged. Even though a thread in the stocking may not be broken, the appearance and quality may be adversely afiected, by distorting the loops as a result of applying improper tension during knitting. A typical example of the conventional tension device is shown in Patent Number 1,763,280 of June 10, 1930. It is here seen that a plurality of tension hooks engage the stocking, thereby concentrating all of the stress at a few points. As a result, the loops at the hooks will be distorted and the appearance of the finished hose will be marred.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a tension and take-up device of the character described which is adapted to clamp the leg portion of the stocking over a wide area so that the stresses will be more equally distributed and hence less distortion will take place. Specifically, the invention comprises a bar under tension which has hooks for engaging the heel gussets of the stocking and which also has a clasp engaging the intermediate leg portion. The heel gussets are usually made of heavier material than the leg portion and therefore will not be easily damaged by the hooks, but since the leg portion is usually made of a sheerer material it is preferable to use a clamp at this location.

It is another object of this invention to provide an open ended clamping means of the class described, which is adapted to simultaneously engage both sides of the leg portion and which extends transversely of the stocking leg substantially the width thereof. By having an open end to the clamp the leg portion can be easily inserted therein or removed therefrom at one operation With one hand Without any likelihood of damage to the stocking.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with theac'companying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is an isometric View of a portion of a full fashioned hosiery machine commonly called L a footer, showing my improved tension device associated therewith; r

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical sectional vie taken along the line 2-2 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken along the line 33 in Figure 1.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the numeral Ii] denotes a conventional knitting head of --afull-fashioned vhosiery machine said machine having a; table i I, tension roller l2, control 3 rod [4, and guard rod l5. As heretofore stated,

full-fashioned hosiery is knitted by a machine called a legger and then transferred to amachine called a footer to knit the leg and foot portions respectively. In the present embodiment of the invention, the leg portion is designated by the reference character It. The leg portion is shown on a machine called a footer and has knitted thereto suitable heel gussets I! which extend from opposed edges thereof. These heel gussets are adapted to be engaged by hoods or work ongaging elements I8 which in turn, are fastened as at [9 to the opposed end of a bar 20, said bar having a strap 2| secured thereto as at 23. It Will be noted that the other end of the strap 22 is secured as at 24 to tension roller I2, and that the intermediate portion of the strap has a slack portion Zia therein which is produced by a plurality of tension springs 25. These tension springs furnish the necessary elasticity to the strap so that the heel gussets i! will have the proper tension applied thereto during a knitting operation. As the foot portion of the stocking is knitted, the tension roller l2 winds the strap 2| therearound so that an even tension will be maintained upon the foot loops at the knitting head.

As heretofore stated, the heel gussets H are reinforced more than the leg portion, and therefore the likelihood of damage by the hooks i8 is not so great as would be the case if hooks were used upon the leg portion. In order to provide means for exerting the necessary tension on the leg portion of the stocking without causing any damage thereto, a suitable, S-shaped clamp 26 is secured to the upper portion of the bar 2!! by any suitable means such as screws 27.

It will be seen by referring to Figures 1 and 2 that the clasp or clamp comprises a resilient metallic bar which is reversely bent two times, thus forming three superposed transverse portions when it is therebetween.

specifically designated by reference characters 28, 29 and 30. The transverse portion 28 is employed as abase which, in turn is secured to the bar 20 by SCIEWSVZ'I; whereas the portions 29 and 39 are employed for resiliently engaging the opposed sides of the intermediate leg portion l6 of the stocking. The portions 29 and 30 are preferably made of a suitable resilient material such .as spring steel or a suitable rust-proof alloy so that the inherent resiliency therein, will normally tend to force the proximate faces of these two portions together and to clamp the stocking Also it is seen that the portions 29 and 3 extend substantially the width of the leg portion of the stocking thereby making it easy to insert been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the appended claims.

or remove the leg portion within the clamp. The ease of insertion or removal is facilitated by the leg portion of the stocking happens to be a" good deal wider than the clamp it is desirable to bunch or crinkle the leg portion substantially an equal amount throughout its width and insert the crinkled or bunched portion between portions 29 and 30. The crinkled work-piece will make the'clampingof the portions 29 and 30 more effective because there will be 'a greater thickness of material therebetween.

Another very decided advantage of the present device is the resilient mounting of the clamping portions 29 and 30. For example, the portions 29 and 30 are mounted in spaced relation to the bar and do not rest directly thereon because these portions are connected by a single thickness of the clamp bar as at 32'to the supporting bar 20.

Y 7 In' the drawing and specification there has I claim: a,

1. Means for supporting the leg and heel gussets of an incomplete full fashioned stocking while the foot is knitted comprising a footer bar having means on each end thereof for engaging the heel gussets, and a resilient member secured to the footer bar, said resilient member comprising a bar doubled upon itself and forming an open ended slot therebetween into which the leg of the stocking can be placed to be clampingly held while the foot portion of the stocking is knitted, and means for securing the lower leg of the resilient member to the footer bar.

2. In 'a footer bar for full fashioned knitting machines a bar having hooks on each end, for

engaging the heel gussets of a leg portion of a.

stocking, means for clampingly holding the leg portion of the stocking comprising a member extending transversely of the stocking and. longitudinally of the bar and being secured to the bar, said member being reversely bent to lie above and in close'proximity to that portion secured ROBERT A. FOLKMAN. 

